Online Office Hours

Online office hours can be a great place for students to ask questions, get clarification around assignments, and receive feedback on their work. The main issue with online office hours is getting students to attend them.

If you have the time and know that your schedule won’t deviate, you can let students know that you’re available to meet synchronously online during certain time blocks during the week.

Alternatively, you can also provide appointment slots each week and ask students to sign up ahead of time.

Students will need at least a microphone to participate in the office hours, and it would be most helpful if you as the instructor had a microphone and a webcam so students can see your face.

You can use Zoom or Google Hangouts for synchronous online meetings. Don’t forget as well that sometimes a simple phone call may be the best method of communication.

If you don’t want to use your personal phone, you can create a Google phone number or set up Jabber to use your office phone remotely.

Below you will find online office hour set-up examples. Depending on your preferred method of holding office hours, choose between synchronous online meetings (Zoom, Google Hangouts) or meetings over the phone.You can also offer both options to students and allow them to choose which method works best for them. The provided links are to UNC Charlotte FAQs.

Synchronous Online Meetings

  • Professor ___ Online Office Hours
  • Virtual Office Hours
  • Office Hours By Appointment: Mondays and Thursdays 2-4pm
  • Email: NinerN@email.uncc.edu
  • Phone Number: 704-999-9999
  • Preferred Form of Contact: Zoom

Additional Resources